Documenting Portland Oregon

I was surprised to find out that Trillium Lake is fairly young, having only been formed in 1960 by the damming of Mud Creek. The lake is deepest at the southwest corner where the dam is located (20+ feet deep) but the majority is less than 7′ deep. This is one of my favorite places on Mt. Hood not only because of its beauty but because it’s a very quiet place despite having lots of campground space.

There is a great trail around the perimeter of the lake. Because the land around the lake is very marshy, much of the trail is on elevated wood platforms. This is a well-built and maintained trail, but beware- there are a few places where the wooden path has been reclaimed by the lake, but nothing that can’t be jumped over.

Like this:

I stayed a week on Mt. Hood this summer, and while it’s not technically Portland, I have to share what I saw.

The Barlow Road is something every visitor to Mount Hood should walk on. It was the last section of the Oregon Trail. Much of the original road has been paved over by newer roads like Highway 26, but around Government camp and on the Western side of the mountain a lot of original road still exists. In fact, there are areas which still have deep ruts from wagon wheels. It was very exciting to be walking along such a historic path in such a remote place.

I walked from Government Camp where I connected with the Barlow trail on the South side of highway 26. This section of the trail is fairy short (only .5 miles) but it’s part of the original road. After crossing Still Creek, I joined a paved road which ran through a campground. About a mile down the road are the Pioneer graves and Summit Meadows. This is a beautiful meadow in the middle of the forest where Oregon trail pioneers would rest before the last (and very dangerous) leg of their journey.
These photos are from August 9th:

I walked down the East-Bank Esplanade this morning to enjoy the cloudy and cool July weather and to catch a glimpse of the Portland Bridge Swim. The Bridge Swim is an annual event in which swimmers travel under 11 Portland bridges as they swim 11 miles up the river (the Willamette River flows North, by the way). The race begins at the Sellwood Bridge and ends at the St. Johns Bridge. The Willamette must be so much cleaner than it was when I was a little kid. In the 90s, I assumed anyone who swam in the river would develop mutant qualities or be eaten by some kind of Superfund river monster…

Here are some shots from this morning. I also made a map of the Portland Bridge Swim’s route:

I visited Portland’s newest architectural addition this weekend! The Gibbs Street Footbridge opened on Saturday and I was there to try it out. The footbridge runs below the aerial tram and connects Corbett-Lair Hill district with the South Waterfront. Although it is far less dramatic than the tram, I believe it’s a much more significant addition. This will finally connect the two neighborhoods which are so drastically divided by the I-5/Macadam/Hood Ave corridor.

The bridge is tastefully done. I’ve seen older renderings which showed much more elaborate designs, but I think the finished product looks better. The structure consists of a steel box-girder, supported by two concrete pillars, terminating at an elevator tower. I’m a big fan of the use of chain-link for the safety mesh. I’m also happy to see the bicycle tracks built-into the concrete stairs. It’s such a simple design solution but makes all the difference when you’re trying to carry a bike up or down seven flights of stairs.

I drove up to Rocky Butte this weekend to walk around Joseph Wood Hill Park. Rocky Butte is a 612′ tall extinct volcanic cinder cone, which is part of the Boring Lava Field. In the last ice age, it parted the massive flood waters as Glacial Lake Missoula spilled into the Willamette Valley. Today, it parts the freeways that enter Portland.

I’ve been coming here all my life and have always had an affection for the strange, wonderful, and seemingly useless stone structure at the top. Built in 1937-39, it features an aircraft beacon and panoramic views of the city. On this visit, Portland was very hazy so I plan on returning soon to snap some better pans of the city and the mountains.

Like this:

This week I’m posting some pictures of my neighborhood park, Laurelhurst! The park was built in 1912, around the time the Laurelhurst neighborhood was developed. It occupies 26.8 acres and features a beautiful pond (which is actually called Firewood Lake, everyone calls it a pond though). I grew up just north of the park and have been lucky enough to ice skate on the pond once (a rare treat).

Here are the frozen pond pictures from 1989. It was my first time ice skating…

Union Station is one of Portland’s oldest and most iconic structures. It was designed by Van Brunt & Howe and opened in 1896. The Station is located at the Northern end of the transit Mall, which serves as downtown’s transportation hub, linking light rail, city buses, greyhound, and Amtrak.

Here are my sketches and photos. I’ve created a map of the various rail routes throughout Portland as well.